1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a magnetic recording system that utilizes perpendicular exchange spring media and ring heads.
2. Description of the Related Art
The state of the art technology for high-density magnetic recording is perpendicular recording. Modern heads use shielded heads where the shields serve to increase the field gradient, especially in the down track direction. Modern media are of the “exchange-spring” type, where each grain is composed of several sub-grains with different magnetic properties. The exchange spring or exchange coupled composite (ECC) media reduces the required switching field to write the media and has been considered a viable path to further decrease grain size and thus increase areal density.
It has become increasingly difficult to achieve good write performance for high density systems because the lack of scaling of the recording system leads to lower write fields and poorer field focusing. Scaling has become increasingly difficult because the medium thickness cannot be reduced due to the thermal stability constraints, and it is very challenging to further decrease the head medium separation.